Off the California and Oregon coasts, thousands of fishermen can't earn a living because the salmon fishery is closed, says Pietro Parravano, president of the Institute for Fisheries Resources, an advocate for sustainable fishing and fishermen.

Many salmon fishermen are "not doing anything," because their gear can't be used for other types of fish, says Parravano, a fisherman in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council voted Wednesday to again call off the fishing season for chinook salmon this year, pending approval by the National Marine Fisheries Service. It's expected to decide later this month.

"Salmon stocks have improved in the Northwest," says Connie Barclay, a National Marine Fisheries Service spokeswoman.

"But salmon returns to the Sacramento River system are still near historic lows for the second-consecutive year, triggering a management requirement that is very likely to severely curtail or halt altogether commercial ocean salmon fishing off California and southern Oregon again this year."

California fishermen don't dispute that the salmon population is depleted. The Pacific Fishery Management Council estimated that 66,264 salmon returned to the Sacramento River basin to spawn last year, down from 90,000 in 2007. About 300,000 would be expected if the stock were plentiful, Parravano says.

In the Gulf of Mexico, shrimp stocks are relatively abundant. But cheap, imported shrimp is severely depressing the price American shrimpers can get.

According to a January report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico (of 386 with federal permits), received an average of $2.47 per pound for its shrimp and earned $245,970 in 2006. The average operating expense -- $253,407 -- swallowed the earnings and put the boats in the red.

"In 2003 or 2004, there used to be a crew of five to seven on a boat, but now there are two," he says.

In Alaska, where fish is more plentiful and many fishermen earn more than their counterparts elsewhere, the number of fishermen is declining, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says.

Alaska fishermen this decade have been getting the lowest price in 20 years for their catch, the department says.

High fuel prices have made it "uneconomical for many boats to fish," it says.

By Gary Stoller

By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

GLOUCESTER, Mass.  At America's oldest seaport, few new boats have entered the commercial fishing business in decades, and few young people are entering the profession.

Veteran fishermen — including many following the trade of fathers and grandfathers — are unhappy and angry. They say they're not catching enough fish, they're not getting paid enough for what they catch, and they blame government restrictions for destroying their livelihood.

"The fishermen don't want to see their kids on the boats," says Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association. "There is no future for them in the business."

The sentiment is similar in other U.S. ports. The nation's commercial fishermen have been hit by limits on their catches, lower prices for their haul and higher prices for fuel. Combined with a recession and the danger of working in the country's least-safe industry, the situation is prompting more fishermen, most of whom are small, independent operators, to hang up their nets.

"It's definitely a watershed moment in the fishing industry," says Jerry Fraser, editor in chief of National Fisherman magazine, which covers the industry.

How many fishermen have left the business is difficult to say. Reliable figures are hard to come by. But there were 42,000 fewer commercial boats in 2007 than the 120,000 in 1996, according to the Coast Guard. And 90% of fishermen are small-business owners, most with a single boat, Fraser says.

Almost perversely, the fishermen's problems come when the time might be ripe to cash in. Nutritional experts are touting the health benefits of seafood, and many consumers are casting a wary eye on the quality of imported fish, which represents more than 80% of the seafood consumed by Americans. There's also a move during the current recession to buy U.S. products.

But the U.S. catch is falling. American fishermen landed 9.3 billion pounds, or $4.2 billion worth, of fish in 2007. That's the smallest quantity since 2000 and second-smallest in 20 years, the most recent numbers available from the government's National Marine Fisheries Service show.

Signs of trouble in the industry can be seen on every coast:

•A January report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that the average shrimp boat owner in the Gulf of Mexico doesn't make a profit each year. For the average boat, "the financial and economic situation is bleak," the report concludes.

•For the second-consecutive year, salmon fishermen do not expect to be allowed to fish off the California and Oregon coasts when the salmon season begins May 1. Dwindling salmon stocks prompted the federal government to close the fishery last year — a move that the California Department of Fish and Game said would cost more than 2,263 jobs.

•Fishermen in the Southeast are angry because a regional fishing management council, aiming to rebuild fish stocks, is contemplating closing all fishing in a large area off the east coast of Florida, and the Georgia and South Carolina coasts starting next year.

•Fishing boat captains in Dutch Harbor in Alaska went on strike this year to protest the price they were being paid for their catch. Last summer, salmon fishermen in Sand Point and King Cove, Alaska, struck because fuel costs were rising and big seafood processors were offering 70 cents a pound for their catch. That was a nickel more than in 2007, but not enough to make up for increased costs.

Although big company-owned trawlers patrol Alaska's Bering Sea for pollock, the vast majority of commercial vessels off U.S. coasts are the individual boats of small businessmen, many of whom compare their plight with that of small family farmers.

Many fishermen, particularly those on the East Coast, point to NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service — a division of the Department of Commerce — as the bad cop at the root of their problems.

The agency, for instance, decided Monday to severely cut commercial ground fishing — cod, flounder, haddock and other species that swim near the sea bottom — in a stretch of water off southern New England and Long Island. The goal is to ensure plentiful fish stocks, but fishermen say it could end their work.

"Is their real intention to put us out of business?" asks Russell Sherman, a ground fisherman in Gloucester who has been fishing commercially since 1971.

The agency, which aims to eliminate overfishing and rebuild fish stocks, researches fish populations and controls the amount of each species that can be caught. The controls, implemented by eight regional management councils, include restrictions on fishing gear, boat length, areas fished, number of days fishing can occur, the number of fishermen and the amount caught.

James Balsiger, the service's acting administrator, says it oversees 528 separate stocks, or populations of catchable fish, in different regions of U.S. waters. And 45 of the stocks, according to the most recent data, were overfished, he says. In 2006, 47 of the stocks were overfished.

Many fishermen question whether some species have been overfished and the accuracy of the agency's fish population data. For many years, they've said restrictions on their catch are too severe and constantly changing.

The fisheries service stands behind its research, saying it "is considered a world-class science agency."

In a February report investigating the agency's methods, the Department of Commerce inspector general said fisheries service scientists were using "the best scientific information available." But "more work needs to be done" to rebuild the relationship with the industry, particularly the ground fish industry.

Balsiger acknowledges his agency's restrictions have made it tougher for some to earn a living. But the restrictions are needed to protect stocks, the long-term health of the industry and the nation's food supply, he says.

While many fishermen see the agency as too strict, environmental groups say that it hasn't been strict enough and that the regional fish councils are dominated by industry representatives.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the regional councils have allowed species to be completely overfished before controls were put in place, says John Hocevar, ocean campaign director for Greenpeace USA.

Overfishing is causing fish populations to drop and forcing once-productive fisheries to close, Hocevar says. "The fishermen are doing a pretty good job of putting themselves out of business."

The fisheries service is in the middle, fired at by both sides. As of March, 16 lawsuits were pending against the agency — 11 that claim its controls are too restrictive and five that claim they're not severe enough.

One lawsuit filed in 2006 by the marine fisheries divisions of Massachusetts and New Hampshire charges that the service's ground fish restrictions on the number of days at sea will drive "the vast majority of Massachusetts fishermen and virtually all New Hampshire fishermen" out of business.

A federal judge this year lifted some restrictions and ordered the New England fishing management council to review its regulations.

Walking away from boats

Like many homeowners whose houses are financially under water, many fishermen are walking away from their boats.

In New Bedford, Mass., about 20 boats have been abandoned at the docks in the past year, says assistant harbormaster Thomas Vital.

Last month, when the summer flounder season opened on eastern Long Island, many fishing boat captains didn't think it was profitable and left their boats tied to the docks.

Fisherman Michael Mason, 28, of Hampton Bays, N.Y., says 14 of the boats there are for sale, and he and his father sold their boat last month.

"The fishing regulations are out of control," he says. "We can only catch so much, and the price for the fish doesn't cover the fuel we burn each day."

Mason, who is married and has three children, says it's "impossible" for a fisherman to support a family. He now works for a marine construction company but already longs to return to fishing. "I planned on doing it my whole life," he says.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' most recent data from May 2007, fishermen earn an average of $28,000 per year. About 10% of fishermen earn less than $16,000 annually, and 25% make less than $22,000 per year. The data doesn't include "self-employed" workers, so many fishermen aren't counted.

Sal Zappa, 44, of Gloucester, says he earned about $20,000 after expenses last year — a big drop from $45,000 to $50,000 annually in the mid-1990s. He started fishing commercially in 1980 and left the business last month. A combination of economic factors and safety drove him out.

Fishing and jobs related to it had the highest fatality rate of any occupation — about 112 per 100,000 workers — in 2007, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Zappa says that four years ago, there was a four-man crew on his 67-foot boat, but revenue was so low, he had to let the crew go. "It reduced the level of safety big-time," he says. "It was very dangerous working alone."

Zappa, whose father and grandfather were fishermen, says his wife told him to leave the business after two local fishermen, Matt Russo and his father-in-law, John Orlando, were killed when their boat sank 15 miles off the coast in January. They were the most recent of more than 5,300 Gloucester fishermen known to have been killed since the 1800s.

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